2Peter 2

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0:00 We, the rest of us, we're still, we're doing this like little three week run through second Peter. So we're in chapter two of second Peter. And just a quick recap, reminder of who Peter is, where Peter was probably the oldest of the twelve disciples. He often was the one who spoke for the disciples. And of course after Jesus' ascension at Pentecost, Peter is the one who preaches to all the people in Jerusalem

0:34 and announces what's happened, whom Jesus is and what they've done to him, right? And so Peter emerges as a leader in the church very early. We see him actually in Acts, him and Paul having conversations back and forth. It's pretty encouraging by the time he's writing the second letter, you can see that him and Paul have aligned. So at some point, him and Paul are trying to figure out what does the way of Jesus mean, especially what does it mean for people who are not Israelites. And they have some disagreements back and forth, but by the time the Holy Spirit works and pulls them together

1:08 so that Peter and Paul are leading the church in the first century together in different areas. And Peter doesn't write nearly as much as Paul. I don't know exactly why that is, but what's important for us for this conversation for me is that Peter was raised as an Israelite, as a Jew. He probably went through school until he couldn't keep up with Hebrew school anymore and then went to fish, right? And that comes out in the second chapter.

1:38 The second chapter I had to read it lots of times. Does anybody look at it? Beverly, did you look at it? It's kind of a... I don't want to say it's a bummer of a chapter. Is that what you said, a bummer? I don't want to say that it's a bummer of a chapter, but it's not one you read. So we're going to skim through a couple of parts of it, just to give you a sense of it. So like it says, you know, Peter has just finished talking about like the assurance,

2:12 and he's like, the thing that you're following, don't forget, he said, he just finished saying, don't forget the thing that you're following, we witnessed personally. And so he actually, just before this, he's just recounted that he was on the Mount of Transfiguration. He's like, I saw Jesus like Levitate and Shine Bright White and the Moses and Elijah come down next to him. Like I saw that. And then he said, all of the prophets aren't speaking of their own will in accord, but of the power by the Holy Spirit. He just talked about the prophets.

2:44 And then he goes into, he's really, it seems like in this second letter, he's really, he's recognizing that he's not going to live forever. And he may not be around like alive until Jesus returns. Like he may die before Jesus comes back. And so he's trying to pass on what people should think about as they're trying to endure in the way of Jesus waiting for his return. And so after he's talked about all these true prophets, he first starts warning about false prophets.

3:15 So let's look at it real quick here. It says chapter two, verse one, but false prophets arose, also arose among the people, just as there will be false prophets and teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who brought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words.

3:48 Their condemnation from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep. He goes on, for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world that preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned to them extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

4:26 And if he rescued Lot and greatly distressed the sensuality, conduct of the wicked, for he said Lot was uncomfortable. Verse nine, then the Lord knows how to rescue the ungodly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. The first thing I noticed when I read through the rest of the chapter, we'll get to it here in a second, is that Peter pretty quickly rattles off in chapter two, six different kind of incidents or stories from the Old Testament.

4:57 Just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And it's crazy to think that Peter is writing to a group of people living in the Roman Empire, Jews and Greeks, who are trying to figure out, they've heard, actually in their midst, are people who saw Jesus of Nazareth raised from the dead, people who shared meals with him after he was crucified on the cross. They know people who know people who put their hands on his side and felt where the Spirit hid him as he's living and standing in front of him.

5:28 And now they know he is the king of all kings. He told Pilate he's building a kingdom not of this world and he'll come back and set all things to right, new heavens and new earth. What do we do in the meantime? And they're trying to figure that out and they're having to actually ask Peter, hey Peter, what should we do? Because they don't have like all the Gospels assembled and bound.

5:59 They can't do a Google search for the words of the fruits of the Spirit and be reminded of what the Spirit looks like in their life. They need to find someone who talks to Paul and Paul described for him what it feels like for him to live under the reign of God. Now I'm trying to say that Peter is writing an instruction to folk who are just going, how do we endure in the way of Jesus? We know he's king but there's all kinds of stuff happening in the world.

6:31 And Peter the first thing he does when he wants to describe it to him, he tells them what he remembers from the Jewish Bible. Hey, we know the character of God from what God has done in the world. So this is consistent for us. If we want to know who God is in order that we might live with him, we look at what he's done.

7:02 That may make us comfortable or it may make us uncomfortable. In this case, it makes us a little uncomfortable if we look at the stories that Peter is citing. You know what I'm saying? When he says that God bound up the angels, people debate on what that actually is. I tried to find a definitive answer. There is not a definitive answer. The closest is in the early part of Genesis. There's like a reference where it seems like an early creation, the way Moses describes it in Genesis.

7:41 There was like less of a separation between angelic beings and humans. That's crazy. And they are like having kids. That's what it says in early Genesis. And God is like, I can't have this. So he separates the angels and the people. And Peter cites it. Peter brings it into the first century. And it's like, remember when God did that and people were like, we tried to forget it.

8:17 But just a brief, the Greco-Roman idea of titans. Just to remind you that what we're talking about when we talk about Jesus of Nazareth and the way of Christ is like, has tribal and original roots. It is an ancient way of understanding divine in the world. It's not divorced or separate or better or different. It's not all enlightenment. It's all not all scientific. It's like divine God interacting in the world. And the notion that there are other things going on beyond which you can see, feel, hear and touch.

8:57 And so Peter brings that up. And he's like, if you're wanting to remember what it's like to follow the way of God, first remember that he has on several occasions separated people. He separated the angels and the people. And then he's like, remember when he separated Noah's family and everybody else? Again, yeah, we were trying to forget that. What he did, right? He separated Noah's family and everybody else.

9:29 And then he gets one more, the Sodom and Gomorrah story where God just has had enough with these two cities and rescues Lot out of them. And then destroys Sodom and Gomorrah. Okay, and keep going now. Halfway through verse 10, the paragraph started the paragraph there. Bold and willful. They do not tremble. This is the people whom God separates out. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones.

9:59 Whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like irrational animals, creatures, indistinct, born and caught and destroyed blasphemous. He's saying like, they're not afraid to like just dismiss the way of God or the people of God as nothing. Peter is trying to say there are folk whom God will separate out.

10:33 Before Peter dies, remember he ends up being crucified, before he's killed, he's trying to remind the people of the way of Jesus that God has a history of separating folk. Of recognizing there are some who follow God and others who follow themselves. He's trying to clue people into that. And it's worth considering. And I was trying to get down to, it took me a while to think through this like who that he separates out.

11:08 Angels, humanity, the nations, the blasphemous. He gets down even further and he says that he separates out the adulterers. And here down in verse, in the next paragraph, starting at verse 17, he talks about separating out the liars. These are, he's saying the people are what they have promised. These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.

11:38 For speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh. Those who are more barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption for whatever overcomes the person is used in slave. This is finally what I, when it started to click for me, Peter is trying to encourage the people to understand, hey, there have always been groups of folks that the God has separated off.

12:09 He started off separating off the angels and then humanity except for Noah's family. And then there's example where he separates off just these two cities. Sonim and Gomorrah, he separates them off. And then he's going to say that these, these people that get separated off tend to follow false prophets. And he tells the story of Balaam and how false prophets are motivated by their own greed to get what they want out of the world. And then he says this thing right here, what we just read, where he describes the ways in which the false prophets take the people away from the way of God.

12:42 And he's basically says they promise freedom. He's like they usually come towards your passions and in your fulfillment of your passions, promise freedom. Anybody been promised freedom before? I don't know, like I try and think about the places where I, where, what I associate that with.

13:19 This is a very silly example, but I can remember it very clearly. It was when I was working as a maintenance man at an apartment complex. It was like the last little bit of college for me and then just after college. It was a crazy job. I, I got it because Megan worked at the apartment complex and they needed a maintenance man and I smiled and told him I could figure it out. And worked part time as a maintenance man and would, would drive my golf cart around.

13:49 It was like a, it was like several different little two-story things. I was a low man on the totem pole. There were several full-time guys. And so my job was usually to like clean off the cobwebs, try and get the fan to quit rattling in somebody's house. You know, then when I got better, then I'm changing out toilets that are broken, you know, and then washer and dryers and dishwashers. Just like random stuff, you know. And I can remember driving around this golf cart and we were surviving on that money.

14:19 I was making like $10 an hour and Megan and I were newly married. And so it was tough. She was in grad school at the time. So, you know, we used to say that we would make a budget, grocery budget and it was now you're going to the grocery. You decide do you get a half gallon of ice cream or do you get a six pack of beer? You get one treat this week. Which one do you want? You know, usually the ice cream won out in those days. Right? This is that tight. And I was driving around and I can remember right at that time is when the Mazda 3 came out.

14:51 I don't know if you guys remember. My dad liked Mazda's. He had several different Mazda's. The car with the brakes he fixed for me was a Mazda Protege. But the Mazda 3 was cool, you know. It's kind of like sporty and practical. I really liked the Mazda 3 hatchback. I thought that was like, that was probably the car for me, you know. Because it was kind of urban and sporty but sensible, not expensive, you know. I could see myself driving. I was like, and I started to dream as I'm cruising around in my golf cart on the property that gave me the janky golf cart that man, if I could get that Mazda 3, probably everything would change.

15:28 You know. Not only would I be driving a sporty car but I'd be pretty sporty, you know. Not would I be driving an urban car but I'd be living in an urban environment. And I'd have something new. All the problems would be gone, you know. And I'd be the person who could afford something new so then all the other problems would be gone. So pretty soon I'm driving around and I'm like, man, if I could get a Mazda 3, everything would be better. Maybe you know that feeling, right? It's like, if I could just get to this vacation, if I could just get to this dollar amount,

16:02 if I could just have this thing, this new TV, this new bedroom set up, if I could just have this vacation, if I could just afford this wardrobe, if I could just get this car, everything would be better. Everything would be better. I would just be liberated from all the things that are bothering me. Right? Of course, deeper, you know, we could say, you know, the sixth commandment is a pressing one too. If I could just be with this person, if I could just get into this place, if I could just be on that grass instead of this grass,

16:40 everything would be better. Peter is saying, this is a danger. And that there are folk who will tell you, yes, there is freedom here. Come to the freedom. He said, they are motivated by their own passions and by their own greed. So what he said, to get you, and they play on your passions and promise you freedom.

17:13 Right? I, uh, drive me that golf cart around. Uh, I was pulling up to an apartment and I noticed a Mazda 3 hatchback. I was like, holy cow. I had never seen inside one yet. So I pulled my little golf cart right up next to it, parked right next to it and looked inside of it. And it just had all these papers and stuff in it. Just like someone, you know, just a... And I looked and I was like, oh, this is just a regular car.

17:51 Literally, I can't remember thinking that. I remember looking inside and go, oh, all the stuff that's in my car right now would be inside that Mazda 3. And then this is just the way my brain works. It's... I was like, oh, whether I'm driving this beat up old Toyota pickup truck I have, or this Mazda 3, it's still me that it's moving around inside of here.

18:22 I remember years ago I read this book, Deep Economy, that like did, was really cool for me, but one of the things that was cool about it is that it cited these studies on life satisfaction, where you, where people write themselves on how satisfied they are with their life, and then it started comparing different groups. And the one, one of the ones that always stuck out to me was they, they scored Forbes richest Americans on the life satisfaction study, and Pennsylvania Amish.

18:54 You know, without electricity and Forbes richest Americans, and they scored the same on life satisfaction. And me with my Mazda 3, I'm like, right, because whether you're driving the newest Ferrari or a horse and buggy, it's still pulling you, right, inside of it. And that's where freedom comes. Like, when I was thinking about this freedom, then I started to think about that passage.

19:24 Well, first I was like, when he's talking about the false prophets, I thought about the metaphor or the parable that Jesus tells about the sheepfold, remember? And he says that like the kingdom of God is like a sheepfold, and in Jesus' time in a small village where they were keeping sheep, they would have one central pen, where at night everyone would bring all their sheep. So everybody's sheep would be in one pen and all mixed up.

19:56 You'd bring them in so that they didn't get poached or stolen or eaten out in the field. But then they didn't graze forever out there. At night you'd bring them in inside the sheepfold. And everybody's would come in there. And then the way you'd separate them is your shepherd would come and call your sheep and sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd. And so when he comes to call, then they follow their shepherd and he takes them out to where the best pastures are. So Jesus uses the parable and he says the kingdom of God is like a sheepfold.

20:28 He's like, my sheep know my voice, and they come to me. He said the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. The thief comes in, hops over the gate, and then takes them out. But he said I come in and lead them, they recognize my voice. And I take them out into green pastures. I lead them by quiet waters. And so I started to think what is the pasture that if I could recognize and discern the difference between the prophet who's interested in his own passions and his own greed to promise me freedom, that's a trap, that's not freedom, that's just a car payment that I can't afford on a Mazda 3.

21:11 That's just a car. It traps me versus the freedom that God promises that suggests whatever you're driving, it's about who you are becoming, not what you have. And if you want freedom in life, understand who you are and what you're about in the world and drive whatever you need to. As first thought is, oh, he recognizes his voice. But the next thought that came to mind is from Galatians chapter 5.

21:47 So I told you Peter and Paul made friends. And Galatians chapter 5 is one of my very favorite Pauline passages because it gets to the end, it gets to the fruit of the spirit. And I love Paul's description of what it feels like to be a follower of the way of Jesus. He describes it as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's really beautiful. I love that. But at the beginning, before he works his way into the fruits of the spirit, right, the beginning of that chapter, he's describing what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus.

22:24 And he's like contrasting it to many of the Christians in Galatia are making it about following rules, doing all the right things. And if we're listening to Peter and considering that the character of God demonstrates that he's interested in separating people and he's done that at several points, and I want to be the one that's on the right side of the separation, it's very easy to consider or think that the way I get on the right side of the separation is by doing the right things.

22:54 By following the rules and getting all the commandments right, like we were talking to the kids. But Paul tells us, first in Galatians 5, he says it is for freedom that Christ has set you free. If God has erased the problem of sin as infraction from your life, if you can't make a choice that disqualifies you from the forgiveness of God, as even our children know here,

23:28 then what are you set free to do? And Paul says the problem of sin is removed for you, not so that you can reassess the rules and keep all the rules perfectly, but so that you can go do whatever you want. Paul says go do whatever you want. God has removed the repercussions of sin from your life. Go live for freedom he has set you free. Fantastic. So when we think about not following the false prophets being on the right side of the separation of God, the first thing is to recognize that we can recognize the voice of the Lord.

24:06 And the voice of the Lord calls us into freedom, not a bondage. It calls us into liberation, not rule following. It calls us into life, not constricted death. It calls us into broad open spaces, not smaller spaces. This is why Paul then describes the fruit of the spirit. But there's a second passage that came to mind as soon as I thought about this. This one we know a little bit less. Actually, this is crazy. He says the same thing twice in 1 Corinthians. I didn't even know this.

24:39 He says it first in 1 Corinthians 6, 12 and second in 1 Corinthians 10, 23. Look at the one in 1 Corinthians 6, 12. Romans 1 Corinthians 6, 12. Do you see it? All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful for me. First Corinthians 6, 12. Do you see it? All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.

25:10 All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food. You get what he's saying? Look, you can do whatever you want. That's not a manipulative phrase or literally. It's not as though you could ever put yourself in a situation or make a choice where God would be sitting up there going,

25:45 I have the eternal sacrifice of the Son of God on the cross to atone for all the sins of the world, but the choices that Terry have made, I don't know if I have enough storehouse of love and forgiveness to reset him. No, it is not a ploy or a trick. You can do whatever you want.

26:16 Paul says, with the freedom, what do you do? He says, everything is lawful for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is lawful for me and not everything is helpful. I realize, looking at that, Mazda 3, we could probably convince someone to give us a loan to buy it, but then all my ice cream money would go to interest. That's not helpful.

26:46 Are you all right, V? That's not helpful for me. It's not always as easy as an old Toyota pickup truck or a brand new Mazda 3 to discern what is helpful. What Peter is trying to tell us is that the world is not neutral.

27:20 He's actually suggesting even worse that there are parts of the world that are malevolent. He's saying that there are people in the world who don't care about you, who only care about themselves. And if they've got a take from you in order to get what they want, he's suggesting there are people who will.

27:51 Don't follow them. He's like, hey, I'm going to leave and just know we're all here living under the reign of Jesus, understanding that everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful, that everything is lawful, but not everything is beneficial, and we're trying to move towards the life of which is freedom to which God calls us. But not everybody is. So don't suppose that you can just follow any old shepherd.

28:23 Listen for the voice. Because there is, if God's character holds true, there are times of separation. So follow the shepherd. There are times of separation. This was the first that if I only had time to talk to you about one verse in 2 Peter chapter 2, it would be this one.

28:53 I had more time, so I used more and I saved this one till the end. 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 9. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. What Peter pulls out of the reality of God's separation from people groups over time isn't that he's a God who likes to judge,

29:26 it's that he's a God who likes to rescue. That the ones he loves finds themselves amongst malevolent actors in all corners of the world. And what our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of creation and life, finally the God of Christ in the church has demonstrated time and time again, is that when there are those who he loves who are found amongst malevolent actors, he does not leave them there. David said he did not abandon me to the grave.

29:58 Peter stood up and remind him at Pentecost. He would not let his holy one see decay. And Peter pulls it out again for us here, that though you find yourself amongst the evil of the world, your God knows how to rescue. Wherever you find yourself, whatever shepherd you followed, whatever choices you've made, whatever cars you've piled into, whatever things you've counted on for your freedom, good or bad, God will come and rescue you yet again.

30:33 It's a good deal. And the right side to be on. Let's pray that we could be people who wait for the rescue of God together. Hey Lord, thank you for the reminders of your servant Peter and the testimony of your story that has gone so far before. Lord, we know who you are by what you've done. Thank you for what you've done in the past, for our people and for us.

31:04 Might you tune our ears by that behavior to recognize your leading that we would know in large and small ways your freedom, the freedom that truly is freedom. For the sake of your son that his sacrifice would be realized in our lives, we pray. Amen.